


in the forest of the gods

by MikkiOfTheAnbu



Series: in the forest of the gods [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: A deep dark forest full of feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Animal Traits, Animal Transformation, Cuddling & Snuggling, Gen, Gods & Spirits, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Kurama is such a Dad, Like so much, Naruto isn't quite human, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama, Protective Uzumaki Naruto, Trauma, Uchiha Massacre, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto Friendship, Vomiting, and that's okay, blatantly ripping off every miyazaki movie ever
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:21:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22953265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikkiOfTheAnbu/pseuds/MikkiOfTheAnbu
Summary: Sasuke feels grass under his feet and realizes that he's running. His skin is itchy. There is blood in his mouth and it tastes salty. His tears are salty too. He doesn’t know where he is, doesn’t even remember leaving the compound.But there is death behind him, and the forest is dark enough to hide in.So he runs.(Or: AU where Naruto lives in a dope-ass haunted forest, Sasuke can't stop seeing dead Uchihas, and together they figure out a way to live)
Relationships: Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama & Uchiha Sasuke, Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama & Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto
Series: in the forest of the gods [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1649497
Comments: 27
Kudos: 172





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends, and welcome to another tale. This idea has been bopping around in my noggin for far too long and I thought it was finally time to put it into words for the good people of the internet to enjoy. Let me know what you think! 
> 
> -Mikki

Sasuke feels grass under his feet and realizes that he’s running. His skin is itchy. There’s blood in his mouth and it tastes salty - his tears are salty too. He doesn’t know where he is, doesn’t even remember leaving the compound. 

But there is death behind him, and the forest is dark enough to hide in. 

So he runs. 

Minutes or hours pass and Sasuke comes upon a stream. He drops to his knees, lungs heaving, and vomits into the water. He’s deep in the trees now, the moon bleeds heavily through the branches in silver streaks. He’s never been this far into the forest before, never dared. Uchiha children are raised knowing the dangers of this place. 

And Sasuke is alone. Totally and completely alone. Forever. 

His family is gone. 

Aunts. Uncles. Cousins.

Mothers. Fathers. 

_Brothers._

All gone. 

The faces of everyone he has ever loved flash before his eyes, bloody and slain. 

Sasuke wails, his grief too loud to contain. The forest swallows up his voice. 

* * *

Nighttime is Naruto’s favorite. There are plenty of places to hide in the deep blackness of the night, and he loves the way the shadows press in on all sides, shrouding him from the prying eyes of spirits and humans alike. He slinks about in his fox-skin and relishes the feeling of dirt between his paws, the wind in his fur, the moon on his back. 

If he could, he would be a fox all the time, but Kurama says that if he stays in one form he might get stuck. Plus he gets itchy and restless if he goes too long without changing, like a firebrand under his skin. 

Naruto has been out for a while, playing among the leaves and roots and greeting the spirits as they pass, and is thinking of heading home when he feels it.

All of a sudden the earth _shakes_ , like it’s already been struck and is waiting for the second blow to fall. Insects quiet. Tiny spirits dive into their dens with squeaks of fright. Naruto scents the air.

Despair. Anger. _Blood._

Humans, their smells harried and on the move. 

Naruto scowls. Humans moving is never a good sign. He shifts back into a boy and places a clawed hand against the earth, reaching out with his spirit to _feel_ \- and feel he does. Something foul and rotten. Something that is young and old and hurting and poisonous and an _abomination._ He jerks back, a growl between his teeth. 

Upstream. There is something terrible lurking upstream. 

Naruto changes into a fox once more and follows the water. He’ll find whatever creature is waiting in the heart of the forest, kill it, and then go home to sleep. Kurama wouldn’t like it, but he’s been asleep for days and Naruto can take care of himself. Besides, what the old fox doesn’t know won’t hurt him. 

* * *

He hears the cries before he sees the thing that makes them, sounds so terrible and sad they make Naruto want to crawl into a hole and hide. 

And when he finally lays eyes on the creature, Naruto is surprised. He’s never seen a human child this far from the village. 

The terrible evil he’d felt earlier is nowhere to be found, but the foul tendrils of its presence still stain the air, black wisps of _anger sorrow fear_ swirling around the human and settling on its hair and clothes. 

Is it a boy or a girl? Naruto can’t tell from this distance and to be honest human genders frighten and confuse him. 

Either way it gasps and heaves like there’s a tempest in his lungs and he can’t get it out. Naruto wonders how something so tiny can feel so much. 

(Naruto is tiny too, but that’s only because he’s young. When he gets old like Kurama, he plans to be the size of a mountain. Or at least a very ambitious hill.)

Naruto wants to get closer, but the forest and Kurama have taught him caution. He’s a fox, afterall, and the child is human. And Naruto hates humans, knowing very well how dangerous and cruel they can be. 

But something about _this_ human makes Naruto pause, makes him prickle with curiosity. What is it doing here? Where are its people? What could possibly make it cry out in so much pain? 

Naruto decides he wants to know, and he settles into the tall grass to watch and wait. 

* * *

The child howls until the sky is pale, which is honestly impressive. Naruto has seen grief. Has felt it in his very bones when the eyes around him turned hateful and the words full of scorn. He knows how exhausting it can be. 

This child is grieving, and Naruto hates humans, but the sight of it bent in half and shaking makes something inside him ache. 

It’s a very familiar scene. He wishes Kurama were awake, he has the sudden urge to bury his face in the old fox’s fur so he can chase away all this childish hurt. 

The boy - Naruto can tell it’s a boy now - finally passes out after a solid few hours of screaming. As soon as he falls silent, Naruto creeps silently out from the tall grass and goes to kneel beside him, checking him for injuries. There’s blood around his mouth and eyes, but it’s not his. He has no visible wounds, but the cloying stench of terror lingers. 

The scent of whatever hurt him is also there, sage and metal mixed with...regret? And evil. Sour on the back of Naruto’s tongue. There’s too much blood in the air to be sure, but he can almost smell two older scents underneath it all. A male and a female. Corpses. 

Naruto sighs. The metal scent is worrying; it’s the scent of the mask-people who prowl his forest with their sharp knives and even sharper eyes. But he can’t worry about that now. The boy is shivering as mist clings to his hair and clothes, his feet bare and bloody. Naruto needs to get him somewhere warm and quickly. Humans are so fragile, if he leaves him there’s a good chance he’ll die. 

( _Let it die_ , Kurama’s voice growls in the back of his mind. _Better yet, kill it yourself._ Naruto ignores it - contrary to what he’s been told his entire life, he’s not a monster.) 

Naruto reaches down and gently maneuvers the boy onto his back, and once he’s secure, leaps from the grass into the trees. 

The night is over, and the sun has begun its climb. 

It’s a new day. 

* * *

He wakes up. His face is buried in something warm and soft and leather smelling, and it’s that more than anything that makes him pry open his eyes. It takes him a minute to adjust to the low light, and when he does he’s... confused. 

It’s a tree. Or, the inside of one. Wood surrounds him on all sides, a gigantic gnarled cylinder that grows high into a dark black ceiling, with light seeping into the room from a tiny opening in the bark. He finds that he's lying on a pile of soft animal pelts, and that he can smell woodsmoke in the air. 

What a weird dream, Sasuke thinks, and abruptly realizes hat he’s actually awake and has no idea where he is. Wiggling out from under the furs, he crawls towards the opening and cautiously sticks his head outside. 

It’s bright, and Sasuke has to shield his eyes for a second to let them adjust. He takes in a tiny clearing ringed with trees. Gigantic, ancient trees, taller and wider than any Sasuke has ever seen. A fire crackles in the center of the clearing, but there’s no one tending it. 

Sasuke squirms the rest of the way out of the cave and walks over to the fire. It’s a simple pit with stones around the outside to keep the flames in, and it’s the only human touch anywhere that Sasuke can see. Late afternoon has set in, and the sunlight turns the ground warm and golden under his bare feet. 

He wonders who brought him here, and why. Just because he’s alone right now, doesn’t mean he will be for long. If he’s been kidnapped, now would be a good time to run. Gods, he hopes he wasn’t kidnapped. Father and Mother don’t need that kind of stress right now, on top of the unrest between the clan and the village, and his brother already away on another mission --

And then he remembers.

His parents. 

His brother. 

_Itachi._

Sasuke slams a hand over his mouth and tries not to vomit. Memories assault him, of bodies littering the streets. A smell like meat spoiling. Uchiha eyes, their precious sharingan eyes, blackened by death.

And Mother and Father; Itachi standing over them in shadow, his sword dripping blood onto the floorboards of the dojo. 

Sasuke screams. His throat burns, and he must have already done a lot of screaming for it to hurt that badly but it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters. His family is dead and his brother killed them and _why why why didn’t his brother kill him too he wants to DIE_ -

“Oi!” 

A shout rings loud across the clearing. Sasuke looks up. A boy about his age stares down at him from the branch of a nearby tree. His hair is bright yellow, and his eyes are luminous and blue, and for a second Sasuke forgets to scream, forgets to _breathe,_ because it feels like he’s being stared at by something huge with teeth, something old and scary and _enormous._ And he doesn’t know what to do. 

He’s an Uchiha, son of the clan head and a soon-to-be shinobi of Konoha, and all he can do is sit and gape in terror at the monster in a boy’s body that looks down at him like he knows Sasuke doesn’t belong and is considering what to do about it. 

The boy grins like he can smell his fear. 

“So you can be quiet.” He says. “You’re so loud. It’s like you’re trying to bring the whole forest down on us.” The boy hops down from the tree and lands on all fours. “Oi! If you don’t stop that, you’re gonna pass out.” 

Sasuke blinks, and finds he’s not actually breathing. He sucks a huge breath of air into his lungs and instantly regrets it. It sends him into a coughing fit that scorches his throat and makes him clutch his chest in panic. 

And suddenly the monster boy is in front of him, right in his face so Sasuke has a perfect view of those _eyes_. 

“Calm down.” He says, strangely gentle. “You’re okay. Just breathe.” And Sasuke tries. He gasps and heaves and struggles to do as he’s told all the while feeling claws on his back rubbing a soothing rhythm into the fabric of his shirt. 

Eventually his breathing slows to where he can almost think, and he looks up in time to see a warm look pass over the monster boy’s face. 

“There.” He says gently. “That’s better.” 

And Sasuke... doesn’t feel so afraid anymore. 

The boy leans in and presses his nose into Sasuke’s hair. He sniffs, then pulls back with a grimace. “You stink.” He says plainly. “You smell like a human.” 

Sasuke wants to say _I am a human_ but his voice won’t work. 

“Wait here.” The boy says, commands, and darts abruptly into the den. A long moment passes where Sasuke is alone in the clearing, listening to the birds chirping and feeling cold and warm at the same time, and then the boy emerges from the tangle of roots with a bundle of cloth in his arms. He drops the bundle into Sasuke’s lap with an expectant look. 

“Put that on.” He says. “It’s my only spare, so be grateful you bastard.” 

“...Why?” Sasuke’s voice is nothing. 

“I just told you.” Answers the boy. “You stink. Wear my clothes and it’ll make it so you smell like me instead of a tasty snack.” 

And Sasuke can’t argue with that logic, so he unfolds the bundle, revealing a ratty dark blue yukata with white trim, which he pulls on over the top of his shirt and pants. When he’s done, the boy sniffs him again and nods in satisfaction. 

“It’s not perfect,” he says. “But it’ll do for now. Three days of eating my food and you’ll smell like me anyway.” 

Sasuke wants to ask what that means, wants to ask where he is and _why_ and who the boy is and just about a million other things on top - but he’s tired. He’s tired in his body and tired in his soul, and his stomach suddenly feels so empty he doesn’t know how he moved around at all before now.

He wants to curl up into a ball and never move, wants his Uchiha blanket and the cool grass of the garden behind his house. 

He wants his mom. 

This time, his grief is quiet. Tears fall from his eyes like blood from a wound, and he weeps quietly on the forest floor in front of a total stranger and doesn’t care at all. 

He hears the boy shift above him, and then there’s a pair of arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a warm embrace. The Sasuke of yesterday would have been horrified, would have thrashed and scorned and fought. 

The Sasuke of today leans into the monster’s hug and _lets_

_himself_

_go_. 

  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! I went back and did some surgery on chapter one, because I wasn't super happy with it. I split it into two pieces because it got so long and here's the second half! Chapter next will be along when I have the time, but for now, enjoy! Let me know what you think!
> 
> \- Mikki

When Naruto returned to his den to find a sobbing child instead of a sleeping one, he may have panicked. Just a little. He thought he’d have more time to sort through his thoughts and figure out a plan for what the hell he was going to do with a heartsick human child for the foreseeable future. 

But then the kid took one look at him and started losing his shit (something that in other circumstances Naruto would have been quite proud of), and Naruto had no choice but to get up close and personal to try and get him to calm down, which brings him to his current position of snot-rag. 

The kid is a mess. His scent is all over the place; he’s grieving, angry, relieved,  _ devastated _ . It’s too much, and Naruto almost pulls out of the hug to rub his nose. 

He doesn’t, though. He holds the kid and lets him cry because that’s what humans do for their kits isn’t it? They hold them until they’re better. At least that’s what Naruto remembers from back when he still lived in the village. 

(And oh how he hates remembering the village. The cold stares. The empty room with its stale smell and crushing loneliness. Not a day passes by that he isn’t glad he and Kurama escaped.)

In any case, that much crying can’t be healthy, so Naruto pats the kid’s back and makes vaguely soothing sounds in his ear and hopes he isn’t traumatizing him further. 

The kid shakes and sobs in his arms for a long time, long enough that Naruto starts to worry he won’t ever stop, but eventually, his cries taper off and Naruto gently pushes him away to get a look at his face. 

He doesn’t look embarrassed. Or scared like before. Just hollow. Like crying took everything he had left and then some. His stomach growls loud between them but he doesn’t react, expression blank. 

“You’re hungry.” Naruto states. “You need food. Get up.” The boy blinks, but makes no move to stand, so Naruto grabs under his armpits and hauls him to his feet. 

He has to hold onto the boy’s arms to steady him when he staggers. Naruto debates just leaving him at the den while he goes to find food, but decides against it for the simple reason that he doesn't trust the kid not to either run away and get eaten, or get eaten because he didn’t run away. 

Mind made up, Naruto scoops the boy up into his arms and settles him against his shoulder. He half expects him to protest, but he doesn’t make a sound. The kid is lucky he’s so skinny, Naruto is strong enough to lift him with ease but manhandling someone equal in size to oneself is still a chore. 

Naruto carries the kid down the trail to the river and sits him on the bank right in his line of sight. His head lolls against his chest, but he stays upright, eyes staring blankly at the ground. Satisfied his charge is settled, Naruto rolls up the hem of his yukata and gets to work. 

Naruto is fast, and has been since he could remember. His claws are sharp and long, and he can make them longer if he wants to, so it’s easy for him to stab them into the water when he sees a flash of silver and impale a fish or two.

He works for a few hours, stealing glances at the kid every now and then. The whole time he just sits there on the bank like a rock, not moving or speaking at all, which is all well and good for not scaring the fish away, but freaks Naruto out all the same.

He should’ve said something by now, Naruto thinks, but humans are and have always been a mystery to him so he decides that he’ll deal with it later. 

Naruto eventually gathers enough fish to feed both him and his… captive? That doesn’t sound right. The kid isn’t a prisoner. Naruto doesn’t know why he’s here, other than it felt wrong to leave him alone in the forest where anything could get to him. 

He wraps up his catch in the hem of his yukata and calls over to the boy. 

“I’m done! Let’s go eat!” Naruto wonders if he’ll have to carry him again, if he’ll continue to be legless and lifeless, but breathes a quiet sigh of relief when slowly, achingly, the boy gets up and moves to follow, silent as a ghost. 

As a rule, Naruto doesn’t like cooking his food. It destroys all the rich earthy flavors of the forest, so he tends to eat most things raw. But winter sucks ass and smoking fish and meat to have when the forest is blanketed in snow is better than hunting in the freezing cold for prey that may or may not exist, so he keeps a fire going most days and always cooks a portion of whatever he finds to save for later. 

Plus humans like to cook  _ everything _ , and his companion is human, so he pokes a couple of the fish onto sticks and sets them over the fire to roast. 

Glancing over at the kid is disheartening. Whatever life was in him earlier is gone now. He sits and looks into the fire with eyes like empty pits, hunched over like the world itself is draped over his thin shoulders and he’s breaking under its weight. It’s obvious that something terrible has happened in the human world. The earth has been trembling since yesterday, and the stench of death has seeped even this far into the forest. 

The kid must have been involved somehow. Naruto is curious,  _ very  _ curious, but he knows he won’t get any answers if he asks his questions now. 

When the fish smells done, Naruto yanks a skewer out of the ground and offers it to the kid. He should really give him a name. Just calling him “kid” is getting tiresome. 

“Eat.” Naruto tells him. “You need your strength.” The kid, of course, ignores him. Naruto growls and shoves the skewer into his hand. “ _ Eat. _ ” He says more forcefully, but the boy just blinks and stares at the fish like he doesn't know what he’s looking at. 

Fed up, Naruto snarls, “EAT!” That gets a reaction. The kid startles so badly he drops the skewer straight into the fire. 

“Dammit.” Naruto spits. He grabs another skewer and pulls the fish off the top with his claws. “Here.” He peels off the skin and starts picking out the meat. Once his palm is full, Naruto turns to the kid and shoves a fingerful of fish into his mouth without asking for permission. Naruto waits. The kid hardly reacts, but he doesn’t spit it out, which is a good sign. 

“Chew it and swallow.” Naruto orders. Miraculously, the kid complies. And so, Naruto continues to feed him until the fish is just bones in his hand, then does it again and again until all the roast fish are gone.

The kid starts opening his mouth for him at some point, but he doesn’t talk, just sits and lets Naruto feed him his dinner like a housepet. 

Night creeps up on them. The moon is mostly full tonight and summer fireflies dance among the trees. Night is a dangerous time for humans. Their senses are weak and they don’t have fangs or claws to protect themselves. So once he’s cleaned up the remains of dinner and wiped the grease from his mouth and hands Naruto extinguishes the fire with a wave of his fingers and herds his charge towards the den.

His den is warm and soft and smells like him, and Naruto loves it more than he has ever loved anything else. He makes sure to thank the spirit of the tree who lets him live here every day, and he leaves gifts for her when he can, like crowns of flowers from the mountains or the bones of prey he’s killed. She seems to like them. She hasn’t killed him in his sleep yet, which is a good sign. 

The other spirits know to keep their distance - Naruto fought tooth and nail for every inch of his territory, and some of them have the scars to prove it. He checks the warding spells to be sure, giving them a gentle tug with his spirit. They hold strong, and he knows they’ll be safe tonight. 

Once Naruto has the kid safe inside his den, he wraps a pelt around his shoulders and pushes him onto his back. “Lie down and go to sleep.” Naruto says softly. “I’ll protect you so don’t worry.” The kid lies down. Naruto settles beside him and curls into a tight ball.

It’s weird, having someone else in his den after so many nights of being alone, but not bad. The kid is warm for all that his spirit is cold, and Naruto drifts off to sleep with the sounds of the forest and another’s breath for a lullaby. 

* * *

Sasuke exists in a fog. 

He is vapor, drifting from one place to the next and not really caring where he ends up. Sometimes he feels like there is someone leading him, the phantom feeling of a hand around his wrist or at his elbow guiding him forward. But then the white mist blankets over his thoughts once again and he is free. 

Free from feelings. Free from time. 

He sees visions in the fog. Yellow hair. Blue eyes. A mouth with fangs that forms commands he feels like he should follow and so he does. Eat this. Sleep here. Come. Go. Sit. In the back of his mind he knows he’s being treated like a dog, but it doesn’t matter because nothing really matters to him anymore so he lets that thought slip away like all the others.

Occasionally, he sleeps, but not for very long. Dreams rip through him like shuriken through paper. Dreams of the Terrible Thing that he absolutely must not think about. Dreams of a man with red eyes who tells him he loves him before stabbing him in the heart. When he wakes up, there is a voice in the dark that soothes his cries, there are arms that wrap themselves around him and hold him close. 

He wishes he knew who they belonged to. 

Sasuke exists in a fog, until one day, days or weeks or years later, he blinks and he is real again. And he’s drowning. 

Sasuke sputters and gasps, water running down his face and arms. 

“Hold still!” Someone yells, and then there are sharp-nailed fingers in his hair scrubbing down to the roots and it  _ hurts _ .

“Stop!” Sasuke cries, flailing. “Don’t touch me! Let me go!” The fingers still, then vanish. Sasuke pushes his wet bangs off his forehead and gets a look at his attacker. 

It’s that boy, the one from his visions. The monster whose gaze scrapes him clean with  _ knowing  _ and whose arms are strong and safe when they want to be. The boy’s expression goes from slack surprise to intent, and then he’s peering into Sasuke’s face like it’s the answer to a frustrating question. 

“You’re  _ here _ .” The boy murmurs. “Huh.” 

Sasuke is so confused, and he realizes that he’s waist deep in water and actually really very cold. Shivers erupt over his skin, and the monster boy sees this and pulls him from the water. 

“So fragile.” He tuts, wrapping Sasuke in a fur. “So weak. You humans.” 

“M’not weak.” Sasuke hisses, teeth chattering. “M’ _ not.”  _ Because someone told him that once. Someone he trusted and who betrayed him and whose face he can’t think of or he might start screaming. And it’s not true. Sasuke knows it’s not. The monster boy snorts. 

“Of course you are.” He says. “You’re a  _ human. _ And a puny one.” He spits the word  _ human  _ like it’s poison. 

“You’re puny too!” Sasuke shouts, cold and confused and  _ angry.  _ “What are you, five? I’m seven!” 

“I’m seven too, bastard!” The monster boy yells back. “Now hold still. If you don’t get dry you’ll freeze to death.” 

And that brings up another question. 

“Why am I wet?” Sasuke growls. “Where are my clothes? What did you do to me?” 

“You puked on yourself in your sleep.” The boy says simply. “You were dirty so I washed you.” And that brings Sasuke up short, because he doesn’t remember any of that. He feels like he should, like there are huge chunks missing from his mind that he tries to recall but can’t. 

If he were anyone else, this might send him into a panic. But he’s an Uchiha. He knows how to control himself. 

“...I’m not dirty.” He ends up muttering. 

Monster boy rolls his eyes. “Not anymore,” he says, “because I  _ washed  _ you. Duh.”

“I didn’t ask you to!” 

“No. But I did anyway. Spirits, you’re an ungrateful bastard.” The boy frowns, and then he grows quiet. “You were gone.” He says softly. “Your soul was somewhere else. Where did you go?” 

Sasuke blinks at the sudden shift in tone. He thinks of the fog, of the terrible numbness he found himself craving. “I don’t know.” He answers. “But I… don’t want to go back. Not ever.” 

The monster boy sits back on his heels and stares at Sasuke like he’s deciding something. He’s not wearing any shoes. His orange yukata is ripped in many places and Sasuke wants to ask if he’s cold too, wearing so little. When the boy finally speaks, his words are heavy with meaning that Sasuke doesn’t understand. 

“I hate humans,” he says slowly. “But you… You’re different. I think I like you.” And he grins. 

Sasuke... doesn’t really know how to respond to that. 

All he knows is that the boy is looking at him like he matters, eyes large and bright and  _ interested _ , and how long has it been since someone looked at him like that? He can’t remember. 

He knows that he should be more cautious, that strange boys in the forest who clean up your vomit and smile like the sun are not to be trusted. But when the boy says “let’s go home” with  _ that  _ smile and  _ those  _ eyes, Sasuke has no choice but to follow. 

They make their way back to the clearing that Sasuke faintly remembers from his first time waking up, and in the bright daylight it is easier to appreciate just how deep and gigantic the forest really is. 

There is green everywhere, in the canopy above and the grass below. Squirrels race each other up the towering tree trunks and a mix of birdsong and cicada cries fill the air. A strange smell floats on the wind, the scent of flowers and mud and green things growing. It’s… peaceful. Sasuke feels the hurt inside him settle a little in the face of such beauty.

The tree where the den is hidden is especially huge, spiraling up into the sky in a pillar of gnarled oak and sweeping emerald branches. 

“Wow.” He whispers before he can stop himself. “Pretty.” 

“Yeah, she is, isn’t she?” Monster boy says over his shoulder, making him jump. “And she lets me live here for free! How cool is that?” 

Sasuke turns. “‘She?’” He asks. 

“Yeah. She. Can’t you feel her? She’s looking right at you.” 

A sudden gust of wind ruffles Sasuke’s hair and sends shudders down his spine, making him clutch his fur tighter to himself. Looking back at the tree he imagines himself caught in the stare of a mighty being, something so old and wise he can hardly comprehend it. 

Monster boy throws back his head and laughs. “She likes you!” He cackles. “That’s good. It’d be a drag to have to find a new den. And cleaning up your body parts wouldn’t be very fun either.” 

That statement is all kinds of horrifying, and it makes Sasuke abruptly realize that he has no idea where he is. This forest is not like the woods behind his house, or even like the wall of trees that protects Konoha from the outside world. This place is… alive, for lack of a better word. Humming, with a strange energy that Sasuke hadn’t noticed until it was all around him, under his skin. 

It’s in the trees, the air, the ground beneath his feet. It’s also in the monster boy, whose fangs and claws are beginning to look less creepy and terrifying and more perfectly suited to his surroundings. 

Sasuke isn’t scared. That’s not what he’s feeling. He feels… out of place. Like a book on the wrong bookshelf, or a bird at the bottom of the sea. Monster boy called him human. Like he was trying to separate himself from Sasuke’s very being. Which can only mean one thing. 

Sasuke reaches deep inside himself to find the courage to finally ask: 

“What are you?”

He doesn’t ask  _ who are you _ because that’s not the question. It doesn't matter what you call yourself when you are not of this earth because that isn’t the important part. And the boy must know this because he smiles softly and strangely, like he’s thinking very carefully about how to answer. 

After a long minute he says, “I’ll tell you my name if you tell me yours.” 

Sasuke swallows. His mouth is dry. “Uchiha.” He whispers. “Sasuke.” 

Monster boy nods. “Nice to meet you, Uchiha Sasuke.” He says. “I am Uzumaki Naruto. And you are mine.” 

  
  
  


  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! Here's another chapter fresh off the 2014 MacBook air. It's a little short, so bare with me, but I'll probably have another one out sooner rather than later. And we finally get to meet our sad boy Kakashi! Let me know what you think, and thanks to everyone who has commented and kudos-ed on this work so far! 
> 
> Edit 5/12/20: Hey all, so I've gone back and added a bunch of stuff to the earlier chapters, so please give it a re-read if you can, next chapter should be along shortly, thank you all so much! 
> 
> -Mikki

The Hatake Clan is dead and gone, present company very much included, and Kakashi is just fine with that. The last of what truly made them great died with his father, and having no clan means no clan-type responsibilities. No ceremonies to go to, no reputation to uphold.

No all-important legacy for him to fail. 

Still, there are some benefits to his bloodline, the main one being his sense of smell, which puts even his ninken to shame. Walking into the Uchiha compound the day after the massacre is probably the first time in his life that he has actively cursed his gift. 

The bodies are gone already, which is suspicious, but something to investigate later. It takes a back seat to the cold horror that fills Kakashi’s chest when he lays eyes on the decimated Uchiha District. Cold. Dead. Empty. The crime scene. 

He keeps his face blank, but others do not. Behind him, he hears the sounds of shinobi retching and dropping to their knees. There is so much blood. 

Tenzou is waiting for him at the gate. 

“Captain.” He calls when he spots Kakashi’s party. He and a handful of others have been on the scene investigating since yesterday when the incident was... discovered. He looks tired.

“Tenzou.” Kakashi greets. He’s glad to see a familiar face, especially one he trusts. It’s suddenly become very hard to trust anyone at all. But Tenzou knows him in a way that few others do _.  _ And he knows Tenzou in return. “What’s the situation.” 

Tenzou’s face is grim. “187 bodies identified, all Uchiha clan members.” 

“Itachi?” 

“Not among the corpses. Neither was his younger brother.”

“Sasuke?” Kakashi asks in surprise. “He’s alive?”

“It’s unclear. His body wasn’t recovered during the initial sweep. An ANBU team has been dispatched to search for both him as well as any possible survivors.” 

Kakashi avoids putting his face in his hands but it’s a near thing. “What about their parents?” He asks. “The clan head?” 

“Dead. Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto were found in their family home. No signs of Sasuke or Itachi.” 

Kakashi takes a second to let that information sink in. Whoever had done this was strong enough to take down not only the Uchiha clan head, but also  _ every other Sharingan wielder in the hidden leaf _ . Most likely alone. Most likely by striking when he knew their defenses would be weakest. Only one person fits that description and it tears Kakashi’s heart out to think about. 

“...Captain.” Tenzou’s voice is deceptively soft. “I know you’re thinking what I’m thinking. About the culprit. And as much as I hate to say it, he wasn’t among the dead.” 

“Itachi.” Kakashi states. They walk further into the compound, and Kakashi has never been more grateful that he wears a mask because the stench of gore baking in the afternoon sun is  _ foul.  _ “But why? Why would he do this? It doesn’t make sense.” 

“I don’t know, Captain.” Tenzou says. “I really don’t.” 

Kakashi shuts his eyes and gets his breathing under control. He worked with Itachi for a long time, since he was no more than a brat. It was hard to reconcile the distant but well-meaning boy he knew with the cold-blooded murderer who could’ve done this. But hey, Kakashi couldn’t know everything about his squadmates. And the Uchiha were known for going off the deep end every once in a while. Kakashi just never thought it would happen to Itachi.

The kid reminded him a lot of himself when he was younger; smart, powerful, and weighed down by a lifetime of other peoples’ expectations. (Of course, when he was fourteen, his father and his team were dead, Minato-sensei and Kushina-san were alive, and he didn’t wake up every morning praying that today would be the day someone finally put an end to his existence so he could be with them all again.) 

Kakashi takes a long look at the shredded Uchiha banner hanging over the gate of the compound, then turns to Tenzou. “Take me to the place where his parents were killed.” He orders. 

Tenzou raises an eyebrow. “Why? Do you smell something?” 

Kakashi shakes his head. “Not really.” He says. “I just want to see. Where he did it.  _ If  _ he did it. Maybe he left some clues behind.” 

Tenzou shoots him a skeptical look. “This is Itachi we’re talking about.” He warns. “Any clues we find are more likely to be traps than actual hints about his whereabouts.” 

“That may be,” Kakashi admits. “But still.” 

Tenzou sighs, deep and hurt. “Alright.” He says. “It’s this way.” 

They walk towards the Uchiha Clan Head’s home side by side, passing dozens of shinobi in clean up suits whose empty gazes track their forms as they go. Everyone’s expression is the same; a strange mix of confusion and misplaced grief. It was no secret that the Uchihas’ relationship with the village had soured significantly over the years, but still. They were one of the Great Clans of Konoha. The fact that they were gone now, reduced to maybe a handful of individuals, made even Kakashi’s gut churn with a deep-seated sense of  _ wrong.  _

Kakashi and Tenzou arrive at the home and make their way to the back of the house where the dojo is. Sunlight streams in through the slashed sliding doors separating the long hall from the garden, illuminating the twin pools of blood that have crusted and dried on the otherwise pristine wood floor. 

This is where it happened, Kakashi thinks. Fugaku and Mikoto. Itachi slew his parents in this very spot. 

Kakashi lifts up his hitai-ate to look at the stains with his Sharingan. He sees the remains of their chakra, wisps in the air getting thinner and thinner with each heartbeat. He sees two other chakras mixed in, one young and terrified, the other...Itachi. Unmistakably, irrevocably Itachi. 

It sings with killing intent. 

Kakashi sighs and closes his eyes. 

“Captain?” Tenzou asks softly. 

“It was him.” Kakashi mutters. “It was really him, Tenzou. Itachi did this. His chakra is all over the damn place.” 

“... _ Fuck. _ ” Tenzou swears. Fuck is right. This has huge implications for the village as a whole, not least of which is that they now have an S-class missing nin on their hands strong enough to slaughter the mightiest clan in Konoha single-handedly. 

And then there’s the other thing. 

“He ran.” Kakashi says, staring hard at the chakra trails. 

“Who?” Tenzou asks. “Itachi?” 

“No. Sasuke.” 

“Sasuke? Are you picking up his chakra?” 

“And his scent.” Kakashi follows the pale blue wisps of the boy’s chakra residue to the treeline behind the garden. It’s dense with terror. “Poor kid. He was probably pissing himself. Not hard to see why. Itachi’s chakra is… dark.”

“Is there a trail?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Then we should rendevouz with the search party, set them on the right track.” 

“No. If we do that, we might lead them right to Itachi. I don’t know about you but I don’t fancy sending anymore shinobi to their deaths than I have to after this whole debacle.” 

“Then what do we do?” 

“Follow the trail ourselves. I’ll send a clone to the Hokage, alert him to the situation.”

“Do you think we’ll find them?”

“Probably not. Itachi knows how to cover his tracks. Even from me. But I want to know where the trail ends. Call it morbid curiosity.” 

“And Sasuke? What are the odds that he’ll still be alive at the end of all this?” 

Kakashi sighs.  _ Not great,  _ he wants to say.

“Itachi loved Sasuke.” He says instead. “That much wasn’t a lie. If he spared anyone, it was his little brother.”

“He killed the rest of his family without batting an eye.” Tenzou points out harshly. “Anything’s possible.” 

Kakashi runs a frustrated hand through his hair. “You’re right.” He growls. “I know you’re right, but Tenzou I have to  _ know _ . I have to see this through to the end. It’s the least I can do. For both of them.” 

A warm hand lands on his shoulder, and he looks up to see a surprising amount of sympathy in Tenzou’s gaze. 

“All right, sempai.” He says. “If you’re sure, then I’ll support you. I just want you to keep your expectations realistic.” 

“Thank you, Tenzou.” Kakashi tries to smile, and thanks the gods his friend can’t see his face because it feels pathetically small and forced. He takes out a kunai and cuts his finger, slapping his hand onto the wood for a summons. He’s a good tracker, but he’s just one man. 

“Boss!” Pakkun cries when the smoke clears. “What the hell is going on? This place fuckin’ reeks!” 

“There’s been an incident.” Kakashi says, like the massacre is just another day, just another mission. “An Uchiha child has gone missing and we need to find him as soon as possible.” 

The dog snorts. “An incident.” He grumbles. “Right. Pull the other one, Boss, takes more than a fuckin’ ‘incident’ to make this kinda stench.” 

“I’ll explain on the way.” Kakashi says. “Can you pick up the trail?” Pakkun sniffs the air once, then nods. 

“Got it.” He says.

“Good. We’re moving out immediately.”

* * *

Although the trail is over a day old, Kakashi can still pick up on it as though it were freshly made. He and Pakkun follow it deep into the Uchiha Woods, Tenzou trailing behind, and then beyond, to where the trees become larger, the shadows cast by their massive branches deeper and darker. 

The kid’s trail reaches a surprising distance from the compound. Most children would have collapsed after the first mile of running. But not this boy, not Sasuke. He’d kept running. He was an Uchiha after all. 

For a while they make good time through the forest, the scent growing stronger the further they track. They reach a stream where Sasuke’s scent hangs heavy in the air, and for a moment Kakashi’s heart lifts because that means they can’t be very far - 

And then the trail goes cold so abruptly that Kakashi jerks to a stop, and Tenzou almost runs into his back. 

“What?” He asks, suddenly on guard. “What is it?” 

“It’s gone.” Kakashi says. “His scent. It just… ends. Here.” He kneels by the water, examining the grass and the rocks. He extends his senses into the forest, searching, but gets back no sign of the boy, no smells, no chakra, nothing. It’s like he vanished into thin air. 

“Boss.” Pakkun calls. “Over here.” 

Kakashi looks over and his heart sinks. The dog sits before a blackened patch of charred grass, a near perfect circle. Just about the size of a small boy. 

“What on earth…?” Tenzou whispers, walking over to kneel in front of it. “Is this...a jutsu?” He reaches down like he means to touch when Pakkun snaps at his hand. 

“Hands off you moron!” He growls. “This is sacred ground, can’t you feel how powerful it is?” 

Tenzou rubs his fingers, confused. “No?” He says. He pauses, staring at the patch more intently. “I’m not sensing any chakra from it.”

“So, what, that gives you the right to just stick your hand in and hope for the best?” 

“Pakkun.” Kakashi soothes. The dog grumbles but quiets. “This is fresh. If it wasn’t made by a jutsu, then what is it?”

“I don’t know.” Pakkun says, troubled. “Something old. Something  _ powerful.  _ Nothing human, that’s for damn sure.” 

That statement catches Kakashi off guard. “Nothing...human?” He asks. “What does that mean?”

“It means that whatever happened to that Uchiha boy is way above my pay grade.” The dog sighs and stares down at the burnt grass with an expression Kakashi has never seen before, something like  _ loss.  _ “Look, Boss, I’m going to level with you.” He starts. “That kid is probably long gone by now, and so is whatever took him. You okay if I peace out? Being this close to the Boundary is giving me the creeps.” 

Kakashi blinks, then sighs. “Sure Pakkun. Thanks for the help.” The ninken gives him one last long look before vanishing in a puff of white smoke. 

Kakashi looks at Tenzou. Tenzou looks at Kakashi. 

“What the fuck?” He says. Kakashi shares the sentiment entirely. “‘Whatever took him?’ And what the hell did he mean, ‘this close to the Boundary?’” 

“I’m not sure.” Kakashi says. “It’s not like Pakkun to be cryptic. We’re nowhere near the border of Fire Country, so it can’t be that.” 

“What does this mean for the kid?” 

_ Nothing good. _

“We keep looking.” 

“Are you sure? Even with the trail gone cold?” 

“Yes.” 

Tenzou sighs, but rises to his feet when Kakashi does, pointedly avoiding the burnt circle. “Alright, then. I know you don’t want to, but we need to report back to Hokage-sama. And we should really get some back up going. Combing this entire goddamn forest is going to be impossible for just us two. Or at the very least a major pain in the ass.” 

“Fine.” Kakashi relents. “We’ll head back to the village. And I’ll send for Asuma and Kurenai. Happy?” 

“What about Gai?” 

“...Are you joking?” 

“What? He could be helpful.” 

“If by helpful, you mean ‘attract every wild beast within a hundred miles then fight them to the death’ then yes. He could be  _ very  _ helpful.” 

They share a chuckle at the lighthearted banter. It shakes loose some of the terrible sadness they’d both been carrying since the Uchiha District. Then his thoughts turn to Sasuke and he sobers again. 

Kakashi stares into the dense undergrowth and imagines a little boy out here alone, his whole world crumpled and dead at his feet. It reminds him of another little boy, whose life was over before it ever really began, and he almost gives himself a stroke trying to banish the comparison from his mind. 

He can’t think about him now. Not when there’s so much at stake. 

It burns like acid to admit, but Naruto is gone. Sasuke is not. 

And there is still something he can do for at least one lost child of the Hidden Leaf. 

  
  
  



End file.
